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It is common knowledge that our attitudes often condition and create our experiences. This is true with labor and birth as well. If we expect birthing to be traumatic and painful, we become fearful and tense. The birthing experience then follows suit, becoming traumatic and painful to meet our expectations. But what if we rearranged our expectations and, thus, our experience of birth? Did you know that a safe, gentle, pain-free birth is within the grasp of most mothers and their babies? Like so many discoveries, the concept of fear and tension creating pain is not new, but overlooked, forgotten, and now rediscovered. In the early 1900s, Dr. Grantly Dick-Read published a book called Childbirth Without Fear. His interest in fearless childbirth followed an experience with a Cockney woman delivering at home. When he offered her pain medicine, she responded, “Why would I need pain medicine? I’m just having a baby.” The woman’s calm, natural view of birthing as a normal event differed greatly from the many hospital births the doctor attended daily. With further investigation over time, Dick-Read concluded that fear of giving birth leads to tension, which causes pain. As a midwife, I have watched many women deepen and venture inward, trusting the natural process of birth with a great sense of accomplishment. I have also watched many women struggle endless hours with pain and frustration. As these women reach a state of exhaustion, they finally give in to the process and birth shortly after “letting go.” What seems to separate the experience between the two births is the attitude of the mother towards birthing her child, most notably, the ability to let go of fear and embrace being a mother. HypnoBirthing is both a philosophy and technique that teaches women how to reach a deeply relaxed state throughout the birthing process. This state of relaxation increases blood flow to the uterine muscles and to the baby. Muscles saturated with oxygen function without pain. As any athlete knows, pain occurs in muscles when lactic acid builds and blood flow through the muscle fails to clear the build-up. With good blood flow, muscles will function for long periods of time without pain. The second component (for both athletes and birthing moms) is to set aside distractions such as fear or worry, and, instead, focus on one’s goal. Fear leads to the release of our fight or flight hormones, which cause muscle contraction and tension. Contracted muscles have intermittent blood flow, fatigue quickly, and become painful. The use of relaxation in the birthing process alleviates the fight or flight response, allowing good blood flow to the uterus and baby. Relaxation also releases natural endorphins to bring a sense of well being to mother and baby. HypnoBirthing applies the tried and true process of hypnosis to the birth experience and, specifically, to the fear and other attitudes that turn the birthing process into an ordeal. Women using HypnoBirthing techniques stay in a deeply relaxed, dreamlike state, but remain totally aware of their surroundings. The mother-to-be quietly focuses inward, breathing deeply through her abdomen, helping the surge with her breath and mind, to open the passageway that will allow her child to be born, breathing love, bringing life. This peaceful scene is what HypnoBirthing brings to the birth process. HypnoBirthing techniques can be used in any setting the parents choose
for the birth of their child. These techniques can be utilized throughout
the pregnancy for fear release and stress reduction. Stress reduction
is something all of us can use in this too-busy life; even babies are
aware of the outer world, while in the womb. Remember: one’s attitude toward birthing and being a parent has a huge effect on the outcome. Self-care and self-determination are encouraged, so classes also address situations that require medical evaluations. This provides a forum for parents to discuss issues affecting the pregnancy. The goal of HypnoBirthing is to help parents have the safe, gentle birth that they want for their child. Dolly Lefever has shared in over 900 births during the 16 years she practiced as a Certified Nurse Midwife in Alaska. Her hypnosis practice includes HynpoBirthing classes and hypnotherapy sessions. Call 223-9927. |
